How to watch and what to know as Blue Origin launches astronauts into space from Texas

Texas will set the stage for the next step in commercial manned spaceflight on Tuesday, when the world’s richest man and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and three other astronauts embark on a brief voyage into space.

Blue Origin plans to launch the company’s New Shepard rocket from its facility in West Texas, north of Van Horn, at 8 a.m. ET, fly just above the scientific threshold of space for three to four minutes, and then back into space Land desert.

It will be the first human launch for Blue Origin, a company that has been developing its commercial missile system for 20 years but is a few steps behind its bigger and nippier rival SpaceX, which has brought a crew of astronauts to the International Space Station. Virgin Galactic stepped up the pressure earlier this month with a suborbital flight on its airplane-like SpaceShipTwo Unity with six passengers on board.

Blue Origin launched 14 rockets from its West Texas facility, but none of them have drawn as much attention as manned spaceflight, especially when it comes to one of the most famous men in the world.

It’s the next step in the billionaires’ space race, led by the modern industrial giants who have conquered the business world and set goals beyond. SpaceX is led by Tesla founder Elon Musk and Virgin Galatic by British billionaire Richard Branson. The Blue Origin flight is also the next step in a decade-long effort to take the burden of space travel from NASA and the federal government and place it in the hands of private industry, though it’s still heavily backed by public money.

“We are also flying our first paying commercial customer and the fact that this is done in a private vehicle fully funded by a private launch pad has not been possible in this industry,” said Audrey Powers, vice president of New Shepard Operations by Blue Origin.

Meet the astronauts

Blue Origin will launch a crew of four astronauts Tuesday, including Bezos himself. Bezos founded Amazon as an online bookstore in Seattle in 1993, and the company has since grown to become the dominant name in online retail, with hundreds of distribution centers throughout Country as well as an Oscar-winning film and streaming TV division. Bezos also bought the Washington Post in 2013.

Bezos has a crew that will include both the youngest and oldest astronauts in space travel history.

One of those astronauts will be Bezos’ brother, Mark Bezos, who runs a nonprofit group in New York called Robin Hood that focuses on fighting poverty. He is also a 1992 graduate of Texas Christian University.

Wally Funk, an aviation pioneer and resident of Grapevine, is slated to become the oldest female astronaut at the age of 82. Funk was the first female flight instructor on a US military base and was one of the 13 women who were trained as the first female astronauts by a private organization from 1959 onwards. Funk said she applied to NASA four times for inclusion in her space program but never received a response.

Funk had a long career as a federal flight and crash investigator.

“I can’t wait,” Funk said during a social media video announcing her selection for the crew.

Blue Origin’s first paying customer is Oliver Damean, the son of a hedge fund billionaire and second in the $ 28 million auction for the first paying seat. The original winner was unable to attend, the company said.

Of course, no crew actually has to work during the flight as the crew capsule, rocket, and all other processes involved are remotely controlled during the 65 miles to the edge of space.

“It’s two days, but it’s two full days [of training]”Said Ariane Cornell, Director of Astronaut Sales at Blue Origin. “It is a very concise training that gives you everything you need to know for your flight.”

This training includes classroom hours, emergency procedure review, and even weightlessness instructions.

So watch

Blue Origin has insisted that people shouldn’t travel to Culberson County or Van Horn to see the launch. The launch complex is about five miles off Highway 54 north of Van Horn, and Blue Origin does not allow access to its property for the launch.

The company has also asked the Texas Department of Public Safety to close the section of Highway 54 near the launch site to discourage onlookers.

Instead, the company is encouraging people to watch through its website at BlueOrigin.com starting Tuesday at 6:30 am Central Time.

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